


Really Good Timing

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Battle Couple, Close call, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 11:16:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18234146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Tavi's never been overly fond of plans.





	Really Good Timing

**Author's Note:**

> For prompt #84: Late

 

Tavi had never been one for plans. She preferred to charge in heedless of consequences and fuck shit up in hopes that she’d win. That strategy had worked so far--there were some close calls in there, but she was still alive.

However, the ruined fortress that loomed over them now was clearly the sort of place where that would be a death wish. And not her usual ‘ _low odds, but slim chance of success_ ’ death wish. An actual, honest-to-Berath ‘ _prepare to meet the Usher’_ death wish.

Since she had no desire to bring that end on her friends(and the man she loved), Tavi stayed where she was. Crouched behind a boulder, glaring at the slaver heraldry crudely painted on the fortress’ gates. “Anybody got a bright idea for takin’ care of these copperfuckers?”

“Too bad it’s far enough inland we can’t pull the ship around an’ let ‘em have it,” Konstanten muttered. “Place looks like it’d come down  with a couple good volleys.”

“That would be ideal,” Tavi snorted. She flicked a pebble off the top of the boulder. “But we can’t. Prob’ly the only reason Crookspur took over this place; y’can’t hit it from the water. So how do we handle this without it bein’ a death wish?”

“We’ll probably need to split up,” Aloth pointed out, twisting one of his rings as he examined the fortress’ construction and the holes that littered it. “Some cause a distraction, draw attention, while the others sneak in somewhere else and hit them from behind.”

“Huntin’ the Leaden Key’s made you sneaky, city slicker,” Tavi said with a laugh.  “I like it. So, should me an’ Xoti go cause a ruckus while you boys sneak in somewhere else?”

He glanced at Edér and Konstanten. “If you’re drawing more attention from the _brutal, bloodthirsty slavers,_ shouldn’t you have the bigger group? Both for efficiency at achieving that goal and for safety?”

She rolled her eyes, but he did have a point. “Fine, fine, if you’re that worried about me.” She winked. “I”ll take Xoti and Konstanten since we’re the best at bein’ loud”--she shot Edér a dirty look when he bit the side of his hand to keep from laughing--”Not a fuckin’ word, Teylecg. You two can sneak in somewhere less watched once we got ‘em riled and kick ass.”

“How did I know you would want the more...combative part of this endeavor?” Aloth asked with a smile.

“It’s me,” Tavi shrugged, shooting him a cocky grin. “And you know me.” She leaned over and gave him an impish kiss on the cheek. “Just don’t take too long, Corfiser. We’re pretty badass, but I dunno how long we’ll go against every fucker in the place.”

He chuckled. “Noted. We’ll do our best to move swiftly without attracting undue attention.” A meaningful look at Edér. “You’re better at that now, yes?”

Edér snorted. “Some, yeah.”

“Good to hear.” Aloth turned back to Tavi, caught her grinning at him. “What?”

“Confidence looks good on you,” she said, winking to ensure he caught her meaning. “I like it.”

He went red and his ears dipped, but he pressed on with the business at hand after only one mildly embarrassed cough. “ _Tavi._ Should we look around before we begin to ensure there are viable routes inside?”

She waved off the suggestion. “Nah, look at the place; it’s fallin’ apart. I’m sure both of us’ll find a way in without too much trouble.”

Aloth shot her a look. “You’re just impatient to beat people up.”

“Yes.” Tavi half-growled, bouncing on her toes until Edér yanked her back down. “‘Cept I’d argue slavers have lost the right t’ be called _people_. I wanna go kill some scum-suckin’, copperfuckin’ _bazzos_.”

“I’m with the Watcher,” Xoti piped up, rolling her sickle from hand to hand.  “Maybe a tad less enthusiastic, but if we stand here jawin’ much longer, they’ll die of old age ‘fore we can mete some justice on ‘em.”

“What she said,” Tavi said, pushing to her feet. “Let’s blazin’ _go_.” She shot Aloth a grin. “See ya on the other side city slicker”--and tugged Xoti and Konstanten into motion down the rocky slope.

<>~~<>~~<>

They weren’t exactly stealthy on their approach, but Tavi did figure the closer they they got unnoticed, the better their odds coming out of this alive. Alive was good. Alive would mean kissing Aloth in triumph once all these bastards were dead, laughing at Xoti’s jokes, trading jibes with Edér and Konstanten on the way back to the _Defiant_. To that end, she and her companions didn’t speak as they made their way down the hill.

And they were surprisingly successful; they’d made it all the way inside through a large crack in the wall before a lookout spotted them. Konstanten’s axe made short work of him. 

“Alright, now we just head for the center of this place killin’ all the slavers we can along the way,” Tavi instructed, unsheathing her sabres. “We’re only stoppin’ if we have to, got it? We’re s’pposed to meet Aloth and Edér in the middle, an’ I don’t wanna leave them hangin’.”

“Got it,” Konstanten nodded.

“I wasn’t plannin’ to stop,” Xoti agreed, eyes glinting with determination.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Tavi grinned, and went charging down the nearest available hallway.

There wasn’t much resistance at first, but that quickly changed as they moved inward. The more protected--and thus habitable--portions were crawling with slavers. Tavi, Xoti, and Konstanten cut a swath through them on their way towards the center. If this place was anything like the other slaver bastions they’d taken down, it would have a large open area, to serve as both slave market and training ground. That tended to be the sort of place they took over.

The same held true of this one. And, as luck would have it, several of the slaver captains were mid-heated argument smack in the middle when Tavi and her friends came charging into the space.

Tavi took full advantage of those few stunned seconds before the captains reacted, barreling across the distance to punch one in the jaw and jam one sabre into another’s gut. Konstanten wasn’t far behind her, and Xoti only hung back slightly further to provide support.

Slaver captains didn’t survive long in their career without having _fucking_ quick reflexes, so Tavi and Konstanten only got in a few good hits before they retaliated. Tavi ducked a swipe at her head and nearly took a boot to the chest in the process. Konstanten bulled into the one who tried to kick her, knocking the man off his feet.

“This might be  good time to dig in and do our part,” he muttered, the words underscored by burying his axe in the slaver’s ribs.

Tavi grunted reluctant agreement. After all, the whole point of this plan was they couldn’t take all the slavers in a straight up fight. The three of them had caused their ruckus, gotten attention, now it was time to hold it until Edér and Aloth showed up. _Better not take too long, city slicker._

She and Konstanten started backing towards Xoti, parrying blows and landing their own. The trio deliberately backed themselves into a corner, to make it more difficult for any archers that might skulk the ramparts.

“They better hurry up, Watcher,” Xoti murmured as reinforcements answered the hue and cry. “Or the whole plan’s gonna be up the creek without a paddle.”

“I know. They’ll be here.” Tavi kicked a slaver in the knee and slashed open his throat as he stumbled.

“That’s not the worrisome part,” Konstanten retorted. “We know they’ll show up. The trick is doin’ it in _time,_ or we won’t be here to help mop up.”

She did have to concede that point. Maybe she should’ve let Aloth look for a definite way in before setting everything in motion. Too late now. Tavi flinched as a crossbow bolt hit the wall and stone chips stung her cheek. “Well, then, the longer we hold out the better.”

That was easier said than done. Especially once Konstanten took a crossbow bolt to the shoulder and the slavers produced a wizard who met Xoti spell for spell.

_Shit, shit, **shit.**_ Tavi spat blood at the staff-wielding elf who’d just cracked her across the face, her ribs aching from another similar blow. There was plenty more where that came from, that was abundantly clear. _Hylea’s tits, Aloth, where the **fuck** are you?!_

As if in answer, the body of a ramparts guard thudded to the ground nearby, in conjunction with a _massive_ fireball that engulfed at least half the encroaching slavers. Some had time for a final shriek of agony, but most were ash and cinder before they knew what (literally) hit them.

“Nice entrance, city slicker!” Tavi hollered, even though she couldn’t see him yet. _Knew they’d show up._ A few minutes earlier would have been nice, but they’d showed up and that was the important part. She’d almost swear she heard him laugh as he stepped out through one of the nearby doorways. But she was too busy taking advantage of the surviving slavers’ distraction to be sure.

The fireball had been aimed perfectly and done enough damage that even with Konstanten hurt--and her not in the best shape herself--the five of them were able to handle the ensuing fight. It wasn’t easy, but it was doable. That was all she needed.

“Took you long enough,” she joked breathlessly when Aloth finally reached her, the two of them instinctively assuming a back-to-back stance.

“Apologies,” Aloth paused to slam him grimoire into a scarred and gnarly dwarf who was getting too close. “There were complications.”

“And I’ll want details, but after we’re done kickin’ ass,” Tavi said wryly, skewering another slaver. 

“Naturally.” He sounded.... nonchalant. Like he was trying to decided what book to read, not fighting the remnants of a brutal slaver coalition.

It made her roll her eyes as she punched the closest slaver in the nose and slashed open her face. _Oh, c’mon, Tavi it’s part of why you love him._ She rolled her eyes again--this time at herself--as she glanced toward Xoti and Konstanten to make sure they were still (relatively) alright.

To her relief, Edér had climbed down and positioned himself between chanter and priest. His years of protective instincts were clearly at war with the more subtle (less armored) fighting style he’d shifted to recently. She chuckled as Xoti murmured a quiet prayer and Edér’s leathers pulsed briefly with a soft golden glow. She’d benefited from that one herself; an armor “enhancement” Xoti had called it, her faith manifesting to protect her friends. It let Tavi hit things with less worry about retaliation, so she didn’t really care about the ins and outs of how it worked.

Neither did Edér, apparently. He shot Xoti a quick, grateful smile and stepped between Konstanten and an approaching tough, his weapons raised in a defensive stance. It didn’t stay defensive for long.

“Tavi!”

She whipped back around at the urgency in Aloth’s voice, feeling slightly guilty for how long she’d let her attention linger elsewhere. “Sorry!” She made up for it by slugging a nearby thug in the jaw and tripping him when he reeled back. His armor wasn’t heavy enough to offer much resistance when she drove a sabre into his chest. “Gotta make sure everyone’s doin’ alright, y’know.”

He let out a short laugh as he finished casting a cluster of magic missiles toward a menacing pair of slavers. “Glad I insisted you take the larger group?”

Tavi sighed and rolled her eyes even as she laughed. “Yeah, yeah, Corfiser, you’re a fuckin’ prophet.” She cut down another slaver. “Can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.” 

It was his turn to roll his eyes, but he was mid-casting and couldn’t retort. When he finished, a black sphere of energy materialized a few yards away. It swirled and pulsed with enough force to drag all the imminently threatening slavers to itself. He cocked an eyebrow at her as he followed up with the pinkish-purple blast of one of Minoletta’s more powerful spells.

It didn’t quite finish the slavers off, but between that and the breathing room, it was enough for them to gather their strength. And once they’d done that it was easy enough to swing through and kill the surviving slavers themselves. They were even all still standing--some in worse shape than others--when they were done.

Tavi took a moment to catch her breath, ribs aching on each inhale. This had been rougher than she liked when her friends’ lives were on the line. “Al...alright. Edér, Xoti, help Konstanten get that bolt outta his shoulder, try to patch it up some. Then the three of you can make sure these fuckers”--a dismissive gesture at the courtyard full of fallen slavers--”are all dead.”

“An’ what’ll you two be doin’?” Xoti asked, brows raised in an unspoken commentary on how Tavi was splitting them this time.

“Looking for stragglers, maybe see if there’s a dungeon or some shit with people who need to be released.” Tavi rolled her shoulders to alleviate the stiffness settling in to her spine.  “Since we dunno if this was more fortification or they were actually doin’ business here.”

“So long as we’re not gettin’ handed cleanup duty so you two can go make out,” Edér teased with a wink as he helped Konstanten, find somewhere relatively clear to sit.

“Oh, we’ll prob’ly do that, too,” Tavi shot back cheerfully. “Relief at still bein’ alive an’ all.” She grabbed Aloth’s hand as he bit back a smile and tugged him toward the nearest doorway. “C’mon, city slicker.”

“Are you certain you don’t need healing yourself?” Aloth asked quietly as they walked down the hall. “I saw you take some fairly nasty hits.”

“Yeah, mostly from that elf with the fuckin’ quarterstaff,” she countered. “Didn’t break anything, I think, so all I’ve got is a shit-ton of bruises. Can’t really do anything for that outside a hot bath.” A mischievous look in his direction.  “Though I have heard stories about kisses havin’ healin’ properties, if you wanna give it a shot...”

Aloth laughed and shook his head. “Tavi. _Behave_.”

“When the _blazes_ have have I done that, and why the fuck would I start now?”

“True.” He slid his hand up her arm until it curled around the inside of her bicep and pulled her close to kiss her cheek. “There?”

“Little lower,” she smirked, ghosting her thumb along the bottom edge of her jaw, and he obliged. “Yep, that’s good. Kissin’ the rest’ll hafta wait ‘til we’re back on the ship, though, thanks to where most of ‘em are...” she let the words trail off suggestively.

“Let’s use this one as a test case,” Aloth dodged with a smile that said he was onto her. “To see if there’s any truth to these stories. We have a task to complete, do we not?”

“Right, right. Let’s go see if there’s anyone locked up in this shithole.” Tavi shook her head to regain some clarity--it was hard to think with him lingering so close--and resumed course down the hall. After a minute of them walking in silence, she piped up again. “Oh, yeah. I’ll have those details now, Corfiser. For why you were fuckin’ late backin’ us up.”

“Right.” He paused as they reached a door and gingerly pushed it open. The room was empty of slavers, and bore the appearance of an office. “I am truly sorry for the delay.”

“Did it take long to find a way in, or somethin’?” Tavi probed. They stepped into the office to search it. If there was a dungeon, after all, the keys were probably here.

“Not particularly.” Aloth shook his head. “It was relatively easy to find a way in, a half-collapsed doorway, in our case. Unfortunately, we both somehow missed that it was guarded. A wizard and a cipher,” he added as she opened to mouth to ask. 

“Is that where this came from?” she asked instead, reaching over to smear soot off his cheek.

He wrinkled his nose and nodded. “The cipher was easy enough to dispatch, once Edér got in close, but...”

“Oh, I know all about how dangerous wizards can be,” Tavi said, winking at him as she rifled through the armoire someone had jammed in the corner. “Clearly you handled it, ‘cause you showed up just in time to make one blazin’ Hel of an entrance.”

“That wasn’t the intention,” Aloth protested, face lighting briefly with triumph when he found a ring of keys in one of the desk drawers. “It simply seemed the best way to remove as much of the threat as possible.” He crossed to hand Tavi the keys. “There you are.”

“Thanks,” she said, the word covering a multitude of things. She ran her thumb over the keys’ teeth. “It was still really good timin’, Aloth. If it’d taken much longer...”

His ears dipped as he nodded. “I truly am so-”

Tavi pressed her fingers to his lips. “Stop apologizin’ for things that aren’t you’re fuckin’ fault, city slicker.”

Aloth tugged on her elbow to get her to drop her hand. “Even though it almost-”

“Yes.” She meant it. Close a call as that clusterfuck had been, the last thing she needed or wanted was him blaming himself for things outside his control.

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before Aloth pulled her into a kiss with enough momentum they stumbled back into the wall behind him. Tavi got one hand up in time to brace against the stone, the other instinctively curving along his jaw and digging into his hair. They savored it for a long minute before parting.

“Not that I really need a reason, city slicker,” Tavi murmured, lightly resting her forehead against his, “but what was that for?”

Aloth leaned into their contact. “Just grateful we weren’t a few seconds later...”

She chuckled softly. “So’m I.” She tilted her shin to catch another quick kiss before stepping back. “It worked out, though. Now let’s go see if these unlock what I think they do” --she rattled the keys--”before I get distracted and Edér ribs us endlessly for provin’ him right.”

He laughed and pushed away from the wall to follow. “We wouldn’t want that.”

Tavi smiled as she took his hand again, sensing his lingering self-recrimination.  “Yeah, he teases enough as it is. And look, Aloth, you know I’m just teasin’, right? I do that. I know better than most that things rarely go according to plan, especially for us.” She squeezed his hand as they continued down the hallway. “That’s why I rarely bother; what’s the point of a plan if it’s gonna get thrown out the fuckin’ window in the first five seconds?”

One side of Aloth’s mouth curved as he tipped his head in concession. “We do have to do that a lot, don’t we?”

“All the _fuckin’ time_!” she said emphatically. “Ah, this looks promising...”

They’d reached a door, sturdier than the last, secured by both key and bolt locks. IT only took a few tries to find the right key, and the bolt slid back easily enough. The door revealed curving steps down when it opened, extremely weak torchlight struggling to flicker up.

“Aloth?” Tavi said before they started down.

“Hm?”

“Thanks for showing up.”

This time, rather than attempt to sidestep her gratitude, he simply smiled.  “Always,” he promised.

The two of them descended the stairs, killed the slavers standing guard, and set about freeing the slaves they found. It took awhile, even though there were only a handful; there was no rhyme or reason to which key went in which lock. When that was finally done, Tavi led the way back up and out to join her friends. Given the _Defiant_ had more than enough supplies to reach land, she welcomed the freed slaves aboard. She didn’t have a plan for where they would _go_ (on the ship or once they reached land), but the lack of a plan had never stopped her before.


End file.
